Dancing with the devil you know
I have often had the opportunity to make decisions about which vendors or contractors to use during my career and, like many, I chose the easy way out – I just extended the contract or agreement. In hindsight, I have to say, I missed a great opportunity. I continued to dance with the devil I knew rather than with the angel I didn’t. On one occasion, however, I took a different approach by inviting several vendors to compete for a contract. We did a very thorough specification and evaluation based upon what we needed, backed it up with research, and articulated it in such a manner as to be able to compare apples to apples. After we narrowed our selection to three vendors and had them perform for us, we evaluated the results – which showed that we should go with a new vendor. The decision actually gave us exactly what we needed at a very significant cost savings. Add to this the fact that the new company was also local and gave us almost immediate response to our issues, and you can see why it was a very satisfying outcome....
Read MoreThe maintenance we miss
It’s not uncommon for data centers to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars a year maintaining vital equipment. A typical maintenance budget can run 1 percent to 3 percent of your initial capital investment for each year of operation, and this amount goes up as the equipment ages. It’s a necessary evil if you expect high levels of reliability in your data center operations. But curiously, in this industry (and many others, by the way) the budget allocated to maintain their most important asset is usually a mere fraction by comparison. Are maintenance budgets misallocated? It’s well known that human-caused downtime is one of the largest reasons for downtime – if not the largest reason. It’s just an observation, but oftentimes in my personal experience, I see an allocation of budgeted resources that doesn’t align with what we say is important. Many budgets look like this: Equipment maintenance budget – $600,000/year Training for technicians budget – $10,000/year (if that)...
Read MoreA day in the life of a data center facilities manager
Ever wonder what it’s like to be the facilities manager of a major data center? Here is a “normal” day – but in retrospect, there really is no such thing as a “normal” day for a facilities manager. 0500 – 22 unread emails Somewhere close to 5:00 a.m., thoughts begin to penetrate your slumber. Your eyes open and confirm again that, for you, an alarm clock is not a necessity. A call comes in from Security as you go about your morning routine, something about a contractor who wants to bring in an employee that is not on the access list. During this call, the contractor calls you. Switching between calls, you determine this person really is from a sub-contractor of the contractor and that he is needed to help install a piece of equipment integral to their project. You acquiesce and give the guard your approval, informing him exactly where this individual is permitted to be and for how long. Two cell phones, radio, keys, computer bag – cold coffee – and you’re out the door....
Read MoreCould cold-air channeling help your data center?
While everyone is trying to save money by controlling energy usage at data centers (the topic has even hit the pages of the New York Times in recent days) what do we do with all the older data centers? How can we increase efficiency in these sites? One answer is to control the cold air. While controlling the warm air is also important, it does what it does naturally — rise. Cold air, on the other hand, needs to be delivered to the proper location for it to do its job. Many of the older data centers were designed with under-raised-floor-cold-air delivery. The rooms are lined with CRAC units that draw warm air from the overhead area and deliver cold air under the floor to be distributed through perforated tiles. In my experience, you contain the vital resource to the maximum extent possible to minimize losses and conserve it. So it has always seemed strange to me that designers and engineers have historically chosen to contain the warm air when the vital resource is the cold air. I would allow the warm air to either escape or have the maximum opportunity to lose some of its energy to the environment so as to work with physics and not against it....
Read MoreNeil Armstrong: courage and poise
The mission started off flawlessly. Gemini VIII ascended, approached the Agena rendezvous craft as planned, and the first time two spacecraft had ever been docked in space was accomplished handily. Then, without apparent reason, the two docked spacecraft began to roll. This was first noticed by the co-pilot. The pilot immediately took control with the Orbital Attitude and Maneuvering System (OAMS), which seemed to stop the roll. But as soon as he turned the system off, the docked craft began to roll again. Ground Control made the assumption that something was wrong with the Agena and informed the crew that they should turn off power to the Agena. When they did, the rolling stopped for a few minutes; but ultimately, both spacecraft started to roll again. It was at this point that the co-pilot noticed that Gemini’s fuel level was at 30 percent. This indicated to the pilot and co-pilot that the problem was with their craft, not the Agena. Gemini VIII transferred control of the Agena back to Ground Control and proceeded to undock....
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